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Petite bergère is among Charles Victor Thirion’s most striking compositions. Completed in 1878, this work is almost certainly the same as Petite bergère d'Attina (Campanie), which Thirion presented at the Salon of the same year. Painted as a full-length portrait in near life-size, the young shepherdess shields her eyes from the sun in order to fully engage the viewer, with whom she makes direct contact. The rocky hills of Corsica and the misty cerulean sky fade behind her, outlining her vibrant and brightly colored costume, while her flock quietly rests behind her.

In the nineteenth century, as more people relocated to industrialized cities, peasants provided popular subject matter for artists in the nineteenth century as urban audiences viewed their pastoral counterparts with fascination and probably envied what they perceived to be a humble, uncomplicated and more gratifying way of life. One of the champions of this genre was William Bouguereau, Thirion’s teacher and close friend. Bouguereau’s beautiful young peasant models, almost exclusively female, combined earthbound workers with classical pastoral poetry, a formula that brought him enormous commercial success. Thirion built on this model, and perhaps looked to works such as Bouguereau’s 1872 Salon entry Faucheuse (Colección Pérez Simón, fig. 1), for inspiration. Painted for the first Salon since the atrocities of the Franco-Prussian War, the painting attracted much praise, with the columnist Marc de Montifaud commenting “His [Bouguereau’s] peasant girls are princesses disguised as cowherds, and we do not dare to regret the absence of rusticity when we consider the nobility of his Faucheuse…” (see Damien Bartoli and Frederick C. Ross, William Bouguereau, His Life and Works, New York, 2010, p. 214).

Only a year after painting Petite bergère, Thirion succumbed to injuries sustained in the Franco-Prussian War. Bouguereau immediately assumed the most pressing debts after the artist’s death, paid for Thirion’s funeral, and later organized a charity auction for the benefit of his widow and children, solidifying the deep ties between teacher and pupil (Bartoli and Ross, p. 260).

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Charles Victor Thirion

Lined. The colors appear bright. There are a few scattered pin dots of discoloration and widely scattered small, faint areas of abrasion across the picture surface. Under UV: varnish fluoresces green unevenly and largely impedes a review of the surface. However, there are scattered broad, brushy areas of retouching throughout the composition and some finely applied dots of retouching scattered in the background. There are two thin, vertical areas of scattered brushy inpainting on the right side of the composition, with a concentrated area on the girl's proper left forearm. There are some finely applied reinforcements in the girl's hair and on her proper left ear.In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.